Civitas
A Newsletter for the CCS K-12 Social Studies Community
Inside this edition:
- Join the CCS Social Studies Share My Lesson Community
- Student Program Spotlight: National History Day
- Student Program Spotlight: Mock Trial
- Student Program Spotlight: Youth in Government
- Preparing for Ohio's State Tests in Social Studies
- CCS Professional Learning Page and YouTube Channel
- Professional Learning Opportunities (External Providers)
Join the CCS Social Studies Share My Lesson Community!
The CCS Social Studies Department is launching a contest to find your best instructional resources! Between now and May 2, we are calling on all CCS Social Studies teachers to share two of their best resources on Share My Lesson. Share My Lesson is a free, open-source sharing portal that allows you to upload instructional resources of all types—activities, projects, assessments, writing assignments, etc.
In less than 30 minutes, you can create an account and upload, tag, and describe two resources. There are over 200 middle and high school Social Studies teachers in CCS. So, in 30 minutes we could add over 400 Ohio-standards aligned resources to the portal!
Just for participating, we will send you a free copy of Teaching Social Studies Today. If your resource is selected as the top resource in your grade band, you will receive a class set of primary source readers, Global History and Geography or U.S. History and Government Readings and Documents, or Mini-Qs in Civics for American Government teachers.
Directions for participation and a video tutorial are located on our website: http://www.ccsoh.us/sml.aspx
Check out the resources already uploaded by these CCS users:
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Student Program Spotlight: National History Day
This year, students from Columbus Gifted Academy (Andrew Cashin, teacher) and Whetstone High School (Krista Buckley and Kathy Arnold, teachers) participated in the regional competition in March. Fifteen students from Whetstone advanced to the state competition, to be held April 30. These students include:
- Matthew Krupa and Joanna Davisson, Darwin's Theory
- Abby Barrientes and Willow Tyl, Rock & Roll: Changing History One Song at a Time
- Khushbu Patel, Oliva Walterrs, and Ella Umbarger, Martha Graham: Mother of Modern Dance
- Elisabeth Henkaline and Alora Packard, The Influence of Andy Warhol
- Evan Slifer, Operation Barbarossa and the Russian Campaign
- Sam Kalyn, Lewis & Clark
- Harper Daniel, Sigmund Freud
- Indira Arnold-Koehler, Julia Child: French Chef Avant-Garde
- Laura Jones, The 1918 Influenza
- Adaline Kerr, DDT: Poisoning America
Youth Division
In the History Day Youth Division, CCS K-5 Social Studies Coordinator Lynda Ray has been working with fifth graders from Maize Elementary. Students will present their projects on April 30.
- Malik Ray and Robert Frazier, Lessons from Hurricane Katrina
- Asiah Miller and Neveah O’Bannon, Assasta Shakur
- KayNeia Erby and Issatu Conteh, Ohio’s Underground Railroad
- Cameron Scott and Chistopher Gibson, The Misunderstood Marie Antoinette
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Student Program Spotlight: High School Mock Trial
This year, teams of students from Centennial, CAHS, Columbus North International, Ft. Hayes, Marion-Franklin, Northland, South, and Whetstone participated in the district competition in February. Team advisors worked diligently to prepare their teams. Thank you to Rebekah Krauss, Steve Murray, Jim Worden, Eric East, Andrew Brower, Tom Gibson, Keath Luke, Stuart Leo, and Karen Ballmer for serving as team advisors.
All CCS teams represented the district well, and a number of students received awards for Best Witness and Best Attorney. Congratulations to Centennial High School for advancing to the regional competition!
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Student Program Spotlight: Youth in Government
Students from Columbus City Schools will be participating in the the Ohio YMCA Youth & Government Annual Youth Assembly on April 14-16. The purpose of this three-day learning opportunity is to bring the workings of the Ohio state government alive. Students are given an opportunity to discuss current state issues with state administrators, elected officials, and students from other schools throughout Ohio.
Students from Mifflin High School, Northland, South, and Whetstone will be participating in the assembly as members of the press, judiciary, and legislature Mifflin High School junior Ishmael Cody-Harvell will serve as the elected Speaker of the House. Participating students will present their bills to committees for consideration in the full assembly:
- Jose Luna and Thomas Artrip, Cyberstalking and Employers
- Bailey Williams, Three Strikes Law
- Es’Sance Boyd and Tarma Obeng, Tracking Devices for Guns
- Taquan Kendrix and Zayahnna Smith, Seatbelts on School Buses
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Preparing for Ohio's State Tests in Social Studies
Check out the CCS Social Studies Assessments webpage for teachers guides, released test questions, student review guides, and more: www.ccsoh.us/SSAssessments.aspx.
The video tutorial below shares some information and tips from CCS 4th and 6th grade teachers on preparing for the state tests. Thank you to Alan D'Aurora (Cedarwood), Ashley Evans (Innis), Christel Barna (Scottwood), Amy Ameter (Dominion), Tim Sebetich (Hamilton STEM), and Jennifer Longo (Mifflin Middle) for sharing insights!
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CCS Social Studies Professional Learning Page and YouTube Channel
Presentations and resources from CCS Social Studies PD workshops are available from the Social Studies Professional Learning webpage: www.ccsoh.us/SSprofessionallearning.aspx
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Professional Learning Opportunities (External Providers)
We the People, James Madison Legacy Project - OCLRE
Teachers are encouraged to apply to be a part of the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution James Madison Legacy Project. The program focuses on the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights, its histories, underpinnings, changes, and application.
Grant funding is available to help teachers learn in-depth content and time-tested pedagogy to engage students in learning about our founding documents and their importance, historically and contemporarily.
Click here for more information.
C3 Teachers Inquiry Challenge is open
Submissions are now being accepted for the C3 Teachers Inquiry Challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to support and reward social studies educators using the Inquiry Design Model. This challenge is co-sponsored by C3 Teachers and the Social Studies Assessment, Curriculum, and Instruction (SSACI) Collaborative, which is part of the Council of Chief State School Officers.
The groups will award five $500 Inquiry Design Model Grand Challenge Awards and five $200 Inquiry Design Model Awards of Merit. Submissions are due by June 1 and winners will be announced by July 1. A complete inquiry must address all components of the Inquiry Design Model Blueprint. Inquiries will be submitted through the Inquiry Design Model Blueprint Generator™. Entries may be submitted individually or as educator teams. Winning inquiries will be published on C3 Teachers and shared using a creative commons license with teachers across the U.S. and world. Click here to register. After registering, teachers can visit the Inquiry Design Model Blueprint Generator™ Web page to get started.
Summer seminar on Asia offered for teachers of grades 6-12
This summer, The Ohio State University's East Asian Studies Center will offer a seminar on its main campus. It will be taught by Ohio Wesleyan University’s Prof. Anne Sokolsky. The course will take place June 13 - June 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Lunch will be provided and on-campus housing will be provided free of charge to participants who reside more than 30 miles from seminar site.
The National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA) seminar provides teachers of grades 6 – 12 with the knowledge, resources and expert guidance needed to incorporate or enhance curriculum about East Asia in their classrooms. Teachers who enroll in this free seminar will uncover a wealth of information and experience on China, Japan and Korea-- all right here in Ohio. Participants will receive the following benefits upon completion of program requirements: $400 personal stipend for time and completed lesson plans; $200 worth of seminar texts and resources; $300 resource grant to purchase Asia-related textbooks, films, and other supplies; option to purchase graduate credit (not required); and certificate of contact hours.
Applications received by April 15 will receive priority, though registration will remain open until capacity is reached. Click here for more information.
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Columbus City Schools Social Studies
Lynda Ray, K-5 Social Studies Coordinator
Matt Doran, 6-12 Social Studies Coordinator
Email: mdoran2067@columbus.k12.oh.us
Website: www.ccsoh.us/socialstudies.aspx
Location: Columbus, OH, United States
Phone: 614-365-5372